Economists said the downed pipeline could possibly affect our gas prices if the line is not fixed in less than 6 months.

In the Little Rock bedroom community of Mayflower, cleanup efforts are underway in the residential neighborhood.

Economists in the commodities industry said the pipeline accounts for 7% of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont, Texas refinery's daily production.

Crude oil that spilled from the Pegasus Pipeline economists said has already been bought on the market.

Economists said a shuttered oil pipeline could affect gas prices in the long term.

"Sometimes they (traders) worry typically how long the pipeline will be closed. I said that even though it’s a 7%, 7% is quite a bit if the pipeline’s closed for a significant period of time. Usually over a year, they start to worry because they’re worried if the pipeline will ever comeback because this is an older pipeline," said University of Arkansas Fort Smith Economist Dr. Jim Wollscheid.

Wollscheid said commodity traders know how to respond in the market to events if and when pipeline accidents happen.

“It’s kind of built in. Spills unfortunately happen and I said they’re not unpredictable. We know they’re going to happen, we just don’t know when. It’s kind of like hurricanes. We know we’re going to have a hurricane typically in the Gulf, we just don’t know when,” said Wollscheid.

Economists said consumers may not see any changes in gas prices because refineries are in the process of switching their gasoline blends for the summer months.

They said gas prices change during this changeover that takes place in May.

Local industry experts said there are no crude oil pipelines running in the Fort Smith – Arkansas River Valley Region, only larger natural gas pipelines run in the area.